Fermilab Grassland Birds http:home'fnal'govkaspertalksGrasslandBirds'ppt

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Fermilab Grassland Birdshttp//home.fnal.gov/ka
sper/talks/GrasslandBirds.ppt

• Peter Kasper

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FERMILAB
Worlds Highest Energy Particle Accelerator
6,800 acres with a variety of natural
habitats Restored Prairie Non-native
Grasslands Woodlands Wetlands Man-made
Lakes Agricultural Tracts
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The Fermilab Bird Survey

• Started in 1987 by Vicki Byre (C.A.S) and P.K.
• Goals
• What birds use the site?
• At what time of year?
• Use knowledge obtained to permit bird friendly
  land management
• E.g. When to mow and when to burn grasslands.

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The Fermilab Bird Survey

• Technique
• Divide year into 48 quarter months
• Shortest time interval over which I can hope to
  achieve reasonable coverage of the site
• Provides at least one weekend in each division
• Divide survey into 5 year periods
• Averages over weather conditions
• Averages when the weekend occurs in a quarter
  month
• Provides an opportunity to fill gaps in my
  coverage e.g. vacation, work, illness
• Record presence not numbers
• Too time intensive

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The Fermilab Bird Survey

• Supplementary Data
• Breeding status in each period
• Confirmed ( nest, recently fledged young, or
  carrying food )
• Likely ( singing male on territory same location
  for a week or more)
• Possible ( seen in the right sort of habitat at
  the right time of year )
• Year last seen
• Notes on rarer observations

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Summary of Results

• 4 survey periods covering past 18 years
• 1987 to 1991
• 1992 to 1996
• 1997 to 2001
• 2002 to now
• 277 species recorded on site
• 91 confirmed breeding, plus 6 likely and a
  further 12 possible
• 3 are pre-survey records
• Red Phalarope - 1981
• Garganey - 1982
• Snowy Owl - 1984

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Example Species Data
Coopers Hawk
Rough-legged Hawk
Bobolink
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Common Merganser
Resident Increasing
Winter Visitor Decreasing
Summer Visitor Stable
Migrant Stable?
Spring Migrant ? Winter Visitor Increasing
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• Number of species versus time of year
• Wintering species have increased
• New species continue to be added

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• Categorized according to normal site usage.
• Some summer visitors are becoming year round
  residents

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• Migrants categorized by family ...
• Waterfowl are earliest and latest
• Shorebirds are heading south in late June

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Grassland Birds

• The survey tells us what grassland birds have
  occurred on site and roughly when they were there
• Upland Sandpipers were regular breeders until
  2002
• Henslows Sparrows were absent until 2000, but
  have been regular since
• It does NOT provide quantitative data on
  abundances
• Grasshopper Sparrows are declining but have been
  regular throughout the survey

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Grassland Areas
Where do the birds breed?
Prairies
Introduced Grasses
Various sizes and stages of succession Maintained
with fire
Upland Sandpiper
Maintained with late summer mowing
Henslows Sparrow
Grasshopper Sparrow
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Henslows Sparrow

• Historical data indicates they were present on
  site as late as 1978
• Not recorded in the survey until 2000 ( 10
  territories)
• Regular since then
• Mainly in non-native grasses

• In 2002 and 2004 breeding territories were
  located in restored prairie sites
• Wont use areas that were recently burned
• 2002 was at the end several years of a burning
  moratorium
• 2004 was in spite of a burn in Spring of 2003

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Grasshopper Sparrow

• Never were very common
• Have been recorded on site every year of the
  survey
• Numbers have declined significantly in last 5
  years
• Now outnumbered by Henslows Sparrows.

• Also seems to prefer non-native grasses
• Why are these birds decreasing while Henslows
  are increasing?
• Is our grassland management the cause?

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THE END
http//www.fnal.gov/pub/about/campus/ecology/wildl
ife/birds.html
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Christmas Count Data

• The Fermilab Christmas Count has been held
  annually in mid December since 1976.
• Count circle is 15 mile diameter roughly centered
  on Fermilab
• All the data is available on the Birds of
  Fermilab web site.
• Indicates some interesting long term trends

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Number of species recorded has increased
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Number of birds counted has also increased
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The Big Five!
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Some interesting trends ..
Canada Goose numbers have stabilized
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Southern migrants are staying ..
Great Blue Herons have started wintering over!
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Northern migrants are not returning ..
Rough-legged Hawks are declining!
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Predators are moving into the burbs ..
Pheasant numbers have taken a dive .. coyotes?
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What about West Nile Virus?
American Crows took a big hit ..
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Some claims are perhaps exaggerated?
Black-capped Chickadees are not so bad off.